


The Paleskin

by elaine



Series: Five Ways Jim and Blair Never Met in Past Lives [4]
Category: The Sentinel
Genre: Alternate Universes, Drama, First Times, M/M, Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-02-20
Updated: 2006-02-20
Packaged: 2017-12-11 10:14:17
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,048
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/797237
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elaine/pseuds/elaine
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A stranger has made his way to the Pacific Northwest. What will this mean for the People?</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Paleskin

The first of the paleskins arrived in the Winter season, quietly setting up his lodge in a valley that was protected from the worst of the snow, and not frequented by the People. So successful was he in his stealth that it was almost Summer before he was discovered. The scouts who found him returned to the village with the news, having observed him over several days without being detected themselves.

We must move carefully," observed Laughing Wolf. "Our brothers from the coast have warned us of the white man's weapons that kill from afar with thunder and lightning. Where there is one, others are sure to follow. We must make this one our ally and he will speak for us to the others of his tribe."

Makes Noise sneered at his cousin's advice. "If we kill them as they come, then they cannot outnumber us. If we allow this one to stay, he will send back to his tribe and they will all come. Then we will all die."

"The white men outnumber us as the stars outnumber the sun in the sky. Whether this one lives or dies, they will come." Laughing Wolf appealed to the elders, "we should make them our friends."

But Makes Noise tossed his head in arrogance. "The sun is more powerful. We will be like the sun, and we will kill them all."

"It is something to think on," said White Bear. He was the shaman and eldest of all the tribe. When he spoke, all men listened. "Laughing Wolf will go to the valley and observe the paleskin. He will come back after seven days and tell us of this one."

* * *

The valley was a day's fast ride away, but Laughing Wolf left his horse and went the last three hours afoot. He had dried pemmican and could hunt for small game if necessary, though a cooking fire would only be possible if the wind was in the right direction.

He arrived after nightfall, which was late at this season, and settled in a tree to watch, nibbling on pemmican and some berries he'd gathered along the way. The paleskin was in his lodge, and a light, brighter than fire, flickered in the openings in the rough log wall. Later the light disappeared and nothing further happened that night.

Next morning the man rose with the sun and came out of the lodge, only to disappear into the smaller lodge, barely large enough to hold a man standing upright. Laughing Wolf had been puzzling over what it might be used for, but had come to no conclusions. When the man emerged, fumbling with his pants, light dawned. The paleskin had built a lodge for his latrine! It seemed a ridiculous - not to mention smelly - way to deal with his body's waste. Laughing Wolf had never expected this mission to be so entertaining. White men were certainly very strange.

As the day wore on, the paleskin moved about the lodge and the surrounding area. It seemed like he might be building another lodge, this one high on poles set into the ground. It would work as a storehouse for food in the Winter, Laughing Wolf supposed, though it seemed like a lot of work for just one man. Perhaps it was a sign that others would be arriving soon.

When the sun was high, and Laughing Wolf's stomach was reminding him of how long it had been since it had last been full, the paleskin came out of his lodge with a bowl in his hands, full of steaming meat. With the wind at his back, it carried the delicious scent easily to where Laughing Wolf still perched in the tree.

To his surprise, the man kept walking, down to the mouth of the small valley, to the foot of the tree where Laughing Wolf sat. He picked out a piece of meat with his fingers and ate it, then placed the bowl on the ground and turned back into his valley. Not once did he look back over his shoulder. When the paleskin was back inside the lodge, Laughing Wolf scrambled down.

In spite of the fact the paleskin had eaten from the bowl, Laughing Wolf was cautious. He nibbled a small piece of meat and waited. A little later he tried a bigger piece, then a little more. Finally, he ate everything in the bowl and wiped it out with a handful of grass and left it where the paleskin had placed it. Then he moved to a different tree.

* * *

On the second day, the man came out of his lodge with one of the firesticks Laughing Wolf had heard so much about. His tribe had been trying to get hold of one, but so far, nobody had been willing to trade such a powerful weapon. He'd never so much as seen one before.

The paleskin walked towards the tree Laughing Wolf sat in, though he'd changed trees again overnight, and paused beneath it.

"I'm going to check my traps. You could follow me and I could pretend not to see you," the paleskin spoke Salish, and pretty well too, though not quite the same as Laughing Wolf's tribe spoke it. "Or you could walk with me and we could talk like men."

Laughing Wolf considered the invitation for no more than a heart beat before dropping lightly to the ground a few feet away from the paleskin. How the man had been able to find him, Laughing Wolf had no idea. He wasn't the greatest of warriors or hunters, but he knew how to hide in a tree.

Close up, he could see the paleskin had eyes the colour of a lake that had a deep layer of ice - cold and blue, and that there were lines radiating out from the corners which were much paler than the golden brown of his face. Otherwise, he wasn't so pale, though far from having the rich bronze skin of the People. He was tall, though. Laughing Wolf barely came up to his shoulder.

He smiled and lifted his hands politely, to show he held no weapons. "I am Laughing Wolf."

"Jim Ellison." The paleskin nodded. "You can call me Jim."

"Jim Ellison. Jim. You can call me Laughing Wolf," he said seriously, then grinned as the man laughed. "What are you hunting?"

They set off, and Laughing Wolf noticed how very quietly Jim moved. Almost like one of the People. They didn't talk much, Laughing Wolf being more interested in observing and Jim apparently finding silence natural to him.

It took most of the day to check all the traps. Most of those that had been sprung had caught their prey, and Jim had a good haul to take back with him. Laughing Wolf helped him reset the traps and didn't comment on how they resembled the kind of traps set by his own people. Nor did he ask how Jim had learned his language. In spite of Jim's invitation, he definitely had the impression that Jim Ellison was not a man who welcomed questions.

When they returned to the valley, Jim shrugged and gestured to his lodge. "There's a place inside if you want it, and more stew. I guess I owe you for your help anyway."

Curiosity, more than a desire to be inside on such a fine night, prompted Laughing Wolf to accept. How better to understand a man than by sitting with him in his own lodge? The stew, he acknowledged to himself, was a major inducement. It had been very good, if a little bland. Perhaps in exchange for the food, he could show Jim where to find the best wild herbs to flavour his cooking.

There were a lot of strange things inside the lodge. Laughing Wolf inspected them all, after first glancing at Jim to make sure his interest was not offensive to the man. The cooking fire was built into the wall, which was a novel concept. Jim explained how it worked and that it was called a chimney, and that it kept the worst of the smoke from gathering inside the lodge. Laughing Wolf stored up all the information he could in his ever-active brain and encouraged the paleskin to tell him more.

When they finally settled down that night, Jim on his strange sleeping platform, which creaked every time he moved, and Laughing Wolf on the floor, but with a fine warm blanket beneath him, there was much for Laughing Wolf to consider.

* * *

The next morning when Laughing Wolf awoke, Jim had already left the lodge. It was a matter of some chagrin that he could have done so without waking Laughing Wolf, regardless of how quietly the man was able to move. There was no point in being too put out by it, however, and Laughing Wolf rose and stretched, and wandered out of the lodge to find his host.

Jim was down at the stream's edge, bare to the waist, and as Laughing Wolf hesitated, startled by how very pale the skin under his garments was, the crazy paleskin bent over and poured a bucket full of water over himself. Laughing Wolf knew how cold that water was - it was fed from a spring high up in the mountain range behind the valley, and didn't warm noticeably by the time it got here. Further down, the stream widened and grew shallow and the sun shining on the stones in the stream's bed warmed the water a little. If Jim had to pour water over himself, better to do it there.

When he offered that suggestion to Jim, the paleskin only laughed and shrugged. He rubbed himself with something he called a towel and put on a fresh shirt. "Hungry? I'll cook breakfast."

Breakfast was some strange, salty dried meat cooked with fat in a skillet on the fire - it tasted delicious, though - and a hot drink Jim called coffee. Laughing Wolf inspected the mug of black liquid dubiously. It smelled wonderful, and so he sipped it cautiously. The brew was extremely bitter, but after downing half of it, Laughing Wolf felt strangely exhilarated.

They spent the morning cleaning and skinning the carcases from the traps, and slicing the meat for drying. Preparing the skins would come later, and they rolled them up and stored them in a bag, hanging from one of the trees near the lodge.

* * *

By the time five days had passed, Laughing Wolf had much to think on. He had not asked Jim how he'd known of his presence in the tree and Jim had not offered the information. Certainly, Jim could not have seen him, since the trees were too far from the lodge for that to be possible.

He noticed how every once in a while, Jim would suddenly tense and scan the valley, as though he had heard something that Laughing Wolf hadn't. Sometimes, he would scent the air briefly when they were checking the traps. Laughing Wolf, who had as keen a nose as any of his tribe could not tell if anything was amiss, but one time, Jim warned him that he smelled a bear, though it was long before, perched in separate trees, Laughing Wolf smelled the rank odour of a grizzly.

When the bear had passed, without more than a cursory glance up at the two of them, Laughing Wolf dropped to the ground and the two men continued as before. His mind, however, was preoccupied with the things he had seen. So much so, that he almost walked into one of Jim's unsprung traps.

He looked up in surprise at Jim's face, less than a hand's width from his own and reflected that he must have come to trust the paleskin, since he had not even attempted to struggle when Jim's large, muscular body bore him to the ground. Jim returned his stare for a moment, then glanced sideways. Only then, following the direction of Jim's gaze, did Laughing Wolf see the trap and the pointed stake which would certainly have pierced his leg had he taken another step.

Jim grunted softly and levered himself up, extending a hand to Laughing Wolf, who took it gladly. Having a man of Jim's size fall on top of him was a breath stealing experience in more ways than one.

"Better be more careful, Chief. I don't want to have to carry you home." Jim brushed dirt and leaf fragments off his hands and picked up the bag containing his catch.

Laughing Wolf regretfully cast aside the image Jim's words conjured up and said, in some confusion: "I am not a chief."

Jim just grinned and started walking.

* * *

"What's eating you, Chief?" Jim's question ended a long silence between them. "You've hardly said a word all evening."

It was true, and Laughing Wolf sighed. "My brother, tomorrow I must leave. I have to return to my people and..."

"Report back to them about me?" Jim asked when he hesitated. He tilted his chin challengingly. "I'm assuming they sent you here after the other two found me."

"Yes," Laughing Wolf said, more calmly than he felt. So, Jim had seen, or heard, or smelt the two scouts? It only confirmed that his suspicions were correct. "You are the first of your people to come here, but we have heard tales of many others who have attacked other tribes with your firesticks and your diseases."

"That is true." The sternness faded from Jim's face and he nodded sombrely, "but I mean you no harm."

It was little comfort to hear the words. "I believe you do not, but what of your brothers? Will they come and destroy us?"

Jim poked at the fire, though it was not needed. After a moment he sighed heavily. "I do not think they will come any time soon."

"You do not want them to come." Laughing Wolf recognised the truth of the words even as he spoke them. "Why would a man leave his own kind and come so far to live alone?"

"I came to die. Or go mad." Jim laughed shortly and shrugged. "But I didn't do either."

Ah... "So there are no Guardians among your tribe?" Jim's blank expression was answer enough. "Warriors who can see further than any other man, hear the slightest sound, track game by its scent better than the sharpest noses of the hunting dogs?"

Jim's stare seemed to pierce his very soul. "None that I ever heard of."

"There was one such in my tribe in my grandfather's time." Laughing Wolf could barely keep his voice from shaking with excitement. "Our shaman, White Bear, remembers him. He too needed to live alone, with his Guide, away from the tribe."

"Guide?"

"One who helps the Guardian with his senses." He leaned forward, gripping Jim's arm tightly. "Do you sometimes have pain from them? Or are there times of... of emptiness when your spirit seems to leave your body?"

Jim nodded urgently. "Yes! That's why I came here. Better to die free than be locked away in some madhouse. I didn't know if I was sick or crazy, but the end result would have been the same. But since I got here, it hasn't been so bad."

"The quietness and solitude would help." Laughing Wolf thought hard, trying to remember the things White Bear had told him, when, as a child he'd pestered the old man for stories. "Perhaps White Bear could be your Guide. Though he is old now..." he considered that fact for a moment. White Bear was certainly too old, but he could find another to guide Jim. He ignored the voice inside him, which demanded that he, and no other, should be Jim's Guide. For his tribe to have a Guardian again... he could not let his selfish desires come before the needs of the tribe. "You _must_ come back with me, Jim."

He expected a fight. Jim was a proud man and not given to asking for help. Everything Laughing Wolf had done to assist him had been offered freely; Jim had made not a single request of him. He wasn't prepared to see Jim nod his acceptance so easily.

"Better get some sleep, then. I'm guessing it's going to be a long walk tomorrow."

* * *

It took a day and a half to reach the village. Since Laughing Wolf's horse could not carry them both, they took turns at riding and walking, covering the ground as swiftly as they could. They carried little with them, since it would be easy enough to return for anything Jim needed. They entered the village around noon of the eighth day since Laughing Wolf had left, and there was no little stir at the sight of the tall paleskin riding Laughing Wolf's horse while he trotted alongside.

White Bear and the elders met them at the open ground in front of the meeting lodge. Their faces were stern, some angry, and Laughing Wolf saw Makes Noise and his cronies watching from behind the men's lodge, all of them armed with bows. The women and children were all hidden well away from any danger.

"Why did you bring this trouble to our village?" Eagle Feather asked scornfully. He was Makes Noise's father and shared his son's contempt for Laughing Wolf. "Were you not able to carry out even this simple task without being discovered?"

"No, I wasn't. Jim found me on the first day, and knew about the other men too." Laughing Wolf drew himself up proudly, anticipating the effect his next words would have on the elders. "Jim is a Guardian, and I have brought him to White Bear so that he may have a Guide."

The uproar that followed was eventually moved into the meeting lodge, and Laughing Wolf watched in astonished dismay and no little shock as respected elders squabbled like children. Some claimed that only the People were capable of Guardian abilities, others that a paleskin Guardian would be an unacceptable danger to the People and should be put to death immediately. Through it all, Laughing Wolf stood his ground, beside Jim, and resolved that he would not allow his friend to die while there was breath left in his body.

Finally, White Bear raised his voice above the commotion. "Enough! Allow the Guardian to speak."

In the silence that fell, Laughing Wolf had to fight back a grin of triumph. With those few words, White Bear had removed one bone of contention at least. Jim was a Guardian and nobody would now dare say otherwise. He glanced up at Jim and nodded encouragingly.

"Ah..." Jim cleared his throat awkwardly. "I don't know much about this Guardian thing. I was having trouble, back East and I came here, just wanting to get as far as I could before I died or went crazy. Laughing Wolf tells me you can help me with my senses. If you can do that, I'll... I'll forever be in your debt."

Laughing Wolf barely held back a gasp. Did Jim have any idea what he'd just offered? He looked up at the stern face of his friend and realised that Jim knew exactly what he'd done.

Once again, White Bear's voice cut across the rising murmur of discussion. "The Guardian will be as one with the tribe. He will learn from us, and will use his gifts in our service. Laughing Wolf will be his Guide."

It was all Laughing Wolf could do not to cry out in exultation. He, and no other, would be Jim's Guide! He found he was holding tightly to Jim's arm and released it hurriedly, but Jim was smiling down at him, looking no less pleased by White Bear's decision.

* * *

Two days later they were back at the valley, living in Jim's lodge as though nothing had changed. In reality a great deal had changed. Armed with all the information White Bear could provide, Laughing Wolf set about helping his Guardian to control his senses.

Much of it was done as they moved about their daily tasks, but there were some things that required a more traditional approach. Late one afternoon, several days after their return, Laughing Wolf stepped back from the rough framework of pliable branches he'd gathered and thought, hopefully, that he'd done it the right way. Construction had never been one of his strong points.

"What are you doing, Chief?"

He nearly jumped out of his skin. No man should be able to move so silently. "It's a sweat lodge," he announced. At Jim's dubious look, he grinned and shrugged. "It'll be fine once we've thrown some skins over it."

Jim looked again at the jumbled branches and blatantly repressed a sigh. "Isn't it a bit far from the house?"

"It needs to be near the stream, so we can jump in it afterwards."

One eyebrow went up, but again Jim said nothing. He walked around the structure, inspecting it from all sides. "Why don't you go get some of those skins and we'll get this thing set up?"

Laughing Wolf hesitated. Now that Jim understood why his senses were as they were, and knew he was a Guardian, Laughing Wolf had noticed a tendency to issue what amounted to orders to his new Guide. It was time to remedy the situation before it got any worse. "What? Am I your servant?"

"I thought I'd make a few adjustments here." Jim poked a branch and the framework creaked and swayed. "But if you'd rather..."

"No! No, that's a good idea, Jim." He started back to the lodge. "I'll just go get the skins."

By the time he got back, the branches had somehow miraculously transformed themselves into a recognisable framework. He helped Jim arrange the skins over it without another word.

When the sweat lodge was finished, he stepped back and looked at the result with some pride. "We have to fast, so we'll do it tomorrow night."

"Do what?" There was a distinct edge to Jim's voice now. Laughing Wolf had discovered that his Guardian could be an exceedingly stubborn man.

"A spirit walk, Jim. White Bear told me..." suddenly Jim was crowded up against his chest and looking very annoyed. Laughing Wolf poked his chest warningly and stood his ground. "You have to find your animal spirit, Jim. All Guardians have one. It will lend you its strength and help you to control your senses."

For a moment longer Jim glared down at him, then he turned away. "Do I _have_ to starve myself?" It was almost a whine, and Laughing Wolf gave a sigh of relief. A petulant Jim was a lot easier to deal with than an angry Jim.

"We have to purify our bodies by drinking only water and sweating out the poisons in the lodge. Only then will your animal spirit come to you."

Jim gave him a strange look. "So you'll be doing it too?"

"Yes."

"Fasting?"

Laughing Wolf tried to look resolute. "Yes." He crossed his arms firmly over his chest.

"Does that include coffee?" There was something... odd... about Jim's voice.

"Yes..."

"And we'll be naked?"

"Ye..." oh, gods...

* * *

By mid morning, Laughing Wolf had the worst headache of his entire life. Well, except for the time that Makes Noise had kicked him out of the tree and he'd broken his arm _and_ banged his head. Jim was frowning ominously too, but seeming to derive considerable amusement from his Guide's suffering. Laughing Wolf glared at him and went to the stream to drink some more water. Obviously, he needed more purifying than usual.

It wasn't until late afternoon that Jim finally explained his amusement.

"The _coffee_ does it?" Laughing Wolf stared at him in disbelief. "But I haven't had any coffee today, and it's never..."

"It's when you don't drink it that you get the problem," Jim interrupted, looking unbearably smug. "There's something in it that your body gets used to, and when you don't get it..."

"You mean it's a drug. Like tobacco." Laughing Wolf glared at his Guardian. Tobacco made him sick. He'd long ago given up doing anything but pretend to smoke the pipe as it went around the circle. "You gave me a _drug_? And you didn't tell me?"

"Well, you were kind of funny the first few times..." Jim sobered as Laughing Wolf snarled and stalked towards him. "Look, if you'd given me some warning I could have weaned us off it. I'm suffering just as much as you are."

Laughing Wolf groaned and sank to the ground cross-legged. Even his braids hurt. "We can have some coffee afterwards, can't we?"

"Not if you want any sleep tonight." Jim sighed. "You drink it at night and I can guarantee you won't be asleep before dawn."

* * *

The air shimmered clear and midnight blue and Laughing Wolf looked around at the moss and trees and leaves of a forest he'd never seen before. Even the scents, and the sounds of the insects resembled nothing he knew. He recognised not one of the trees or bushes. He padded slowly forward, following whatever path his animal spirit had chosen for him.

In the distance he heard a sound, like that of a puma, yet different, and though any sane wolf would avoid tangling with one of these big cats, Laughing Wolf found himself following the anguished cry. Indeed, as the sound came again - a mingling of pain and fear and rage - he began to run faster, his four-legged lope eating up the distance until the next cry was almost deafening to his sharp hearing.

He burst into a clearing and there it was - a massive black cat with dangerous yellow eyes. It saw him and screamed defiance, but made no move to attack; and that was when he saw that one of its back legs was caught in a trap. He paced, carefully keeping his distance from the menacing fangs, to first one side, then the other. Each time the cat moved with him, blocking him from approaching or even getting a better look at the trap.

Frustrated, Laughing Wolf sat on his haunches and thought. It seemed pretty obvious that he was here to help the cat, but the cat didn't want him to help. The cat was trapped, and hurting and frightened and would obviously fight him no matter what he tried to do. He considered the fangs. Longer even than his own, he knew what damage they could do. Worse, the cat had claws infinitely sharper than his. They could rip him to shreds in a heartbeat.

"Why won't you let me help you?"

The cat snarled.

"You're trapped here, and that noose around your leg, that must hurt a lot. Let me get it off you."

The cat hissed and spat.

"Look, you obviously need help, so I'm going to get that rope off you. If you want to kill me for doing it, then just go ahead and kill me."

The cat glared at him, but when Laughing Wolf moved around to its trapped leg, there was no slash of claws. He gulped a deep breath and began to gnaw at the rough twist of fibre anchoring the cat to a sturdy sapling. He could see the noose was cutting into the cat's leg, but it was too tight for him to chew on. It would have to wait.

It took a while, and the cat snarled and growled softly the entire time, but forbore to attack. As soon as the rope finally parted, it leapt forward, disappearing in huge bounds between the trees. To his own bemusement, Laughing Wolf found himself running after the cat.

"Wait! Your leg's rubbed raw. You need to get that noose off. You'll get sick!" He couldn't keep up with the cat, but kept running anyway, determined to follow, to help.

It seemed like hours that he spent following the black cat, with only the occasional drop of blood to confirm that he was on the right track. Finally, he found it, sitting in a small clearing, head drooping miserably. He trotted over to its side and stood, waiting.

The cat growled softly, but then lay down, its damaged back leg stretched out a little. Laughing Wolf inspected the rope. Somehow it had got so tight that he knew it would be impossible to tug loose. That meant he would have to chew it off, and if he should make the mistake of accidentally biting the cat... he whimpered at the thought, then curled back his lips and began to nibble delicately.

Strand by strand, Laughing Wolf parted the rope, pausing every so often to lick the raw flesh as it was exposed. The cat hissed and complained, its body a mass of tension, but left him alone otherwise. When there were only a few strands left, Laughing Wolf tugged sharply and the whole thing came free in his mouth. He spat it out hurriedly and backed away from the cat.

Surely, he'd accomplished what he'd been meant to do, but the spirit world remained. He was still a wolf, sitting in a small clearing while an enormous black cat carefully licked the oozing wound on its back leg. He waited while the cat groomed itself, then rose in a swift, fluid motion. The flat yellow eyes turned to him and the cat stalked towards him.

Laughing Wolf though that he'd never seen anything so dangerous, or so beautiful, in his life. If it killed him now, he'd die gladly, knowing that he had saved it. The cat stopped right in front of him. Its head, a little higher than his, drooped and butted his shoulder gently. Then the cat turned and began to run.

He should let it go. He'd done what he'd been brought here to do, even if he didn't understand the meaning of it yet. He was on his feet in an instant, running after the cat, even though he knew he had no hope of catching it. He ran so fast he didn't even have the breath to call out, but in his mind he was calling 'don't go, don't leave me'.

The cat, barely visible in the distance, hesitated and stopped. Laughing Wolf ran on, desperately. The cat turned and began to run back, and still Laughing Wolf ran, afraid that if he slowed even for a moment, the cat would resume its flight away from him. Closer, now, the cat gathered its strength and leapt into the air. Laughing Wolf found himself mirroring the action. In mid-air, their bodies met, but instead of colliding, the cat's body somehow seemed to mesh with his own. There was a blinding flash of light.

* * *

Laughing Wolf came back with a start, disoriented by a body that no longer walked on four legs, or could see and hear and smell so sharply. He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath and remembering and... oh gods, the cat was Jim, and they'd... and he was so hard he'd never be able to walk normally again.

When he opened his eyes, Jim was staring at him with a face like granite and eyes that were almost black with only the thinnest ring of pale blue. And Jim, Jim was hard, and Jim was looking at him like...

He was shaking so badly it was difficult to talk, but he managed to stutter out "you saw it too. You were there. You were the cat. And we... we joined."

"Chief..."

Jim was shaking too, and it was all too much. Laughing Wolf may have entertained the odd fantasy about his Guardian, after all, he'd heard the stories, but this... this was so far beyond anything he was ready for.

"We have to jump in the stream," he managed to get out, "it's part of the ritual." Somehow he managed to move, and once he'd started, there was no power on earth or in the spirit world that was going to stop him. He dragged himself out of the sweat lodge and raced down the shallow slope to the stream on rubbery legs, letting himself fall into it with a thunderous splash

Another splash, close by, told him that Jim had followed his example. He lay in the water, drifting slowly downstream, letting the chill of it soothe his heated skin. He might just stay here forever, or at least until his cock shrivelled and fell off from the cold. Then a hand grabbed his wrist and started towing him back upstream. He struggled and his head went under for a moment before Jim pulled him upright. Jim pulled him upright and up hard against his body, and _he_ was still hard, and Jim was still hard and the water obviously wasn't doing its job because his cock should be about the size of an acorn right now, and it wasn't. They were standing in knee-deep water so cold his toes felt like they might fall off, but his cock was burning, and Jim's was burning where it touched him.

"Are you all right?" Jim shook him sharply. "Chief, are you..."

"Yes!" Laughing Wolf pulled away and stalked out of the stream and up to the sweat lodge, and then stood there shivering miserably.

Something wonderfully warm dropped around his shoulders and Laughing Wolf looked up to see Jim pull another skin off the framework of the sweat lodge and drape it around himself. He sat on the grass, and it occurred to Laughing Wolf that the banked embers from the fire would still be throwing out a lot of heat, so he walked over and sat facing Jim.

Jim merely looked at him and tilted his head questioningly.

"Um... you've never done this before?" It wasn't really a question, but Jim shook his head anyway. "I've done it a lot. I trained with White Bear and for a while we thought I might be the next shaman, but then White Bear had a vision that told him my destiny lay somewhere else."

He looked down at his hands, which were still shaking. "I've never shared a vision with another person before. I don't think White Bear ever has either."

"Does it bother you..." Jim looked past his shoulder, his eyes seeing something that Laughing Wolf knew he would never be able to see, if he turned to look. "I mean... that I'm a man?"

"I thought it might bother you. The stories I've heard..."

"You wouldn't be the first." Jim rushed the words out. "It's not accepted among my people, but it still happens."

He looked at Jim, at the strength of him. Gods, he'd _felt_ the power of the man when they'd merged. And that was the problem. "We say that such are two-spirited, they have both the male and the female spirit within them."

"So, it won't be a problem? For your tribe, I mean." The uncertainty in Jim's voice made Laughing Wolf's chest ache. "Obviously it's a problem for you."

He reached over and tugged the hide from Jim's shoulders, then shrugged off his own. Now they were as naked as they'd been in the sweat lodge. More naked.

In the darkness Jim's skin was so pale it glowed like a star. He'd never seen anything more beautiful, or that he'd wanted more than this. There were _berdache_ among his people - men who from childhood wore the hair and clothing of women, who took on the tasks of women and were treated like women. He'd shared a sleeping mat with some of them on occasion. Jim was most definitely not _berdache_. Neither was he.

Looking at Jim, naked and still gloriously aroused, Laughing Wolf knew that he could submit to him right now, would do it gladly in the heat of passion. He couldn't even begin to imagine Jim doing the same for him for there was not even the faintest hint of the berdache in his demeanour.. Nor could he imagine himself always being the one to submit, though at the moment the thought of it made his loins burn. But if he was always the submissive one, then he would have to become something he was not.

And yet... if the vision had told him anything it was that the two of them were destined to be together. That they were bound to each other by some spiritual power. And he wanted it, wanted it so badly it made him ache.

"I do not know if I can..." he raised his eyes to meet Jim's and was not ashamed of the pleading in his voice.

"You don't have to." Jim smiled faintly. "Is that all? That you don't want to turn over for me? You don't have to."

Laughing Wolf knew that his mouth was hanging open, but he didn't care. Was Jim really saying that _he_ would be the one to submit? He tried to speak, but all that came out was a startled croak.

"Don't you believe me?" Jim's smile widened. "I can show you. Right now, if you like. I told you, it's not the first time." He laughed. "Dammit, Chief, I like it, okay? I _want_ to do it."

Jim stood up and began to pull the remaining skins off the sweat lodge, and Laughing Wolf scrambled to help. It took only a moment before they had a pile of fire-warmed skins for their bed and Jim was pulling him down into a passionate embrace. The power infusing their bodies from the spirit walk lent a desperate haste to their explorations.

Jim's hands touched him with a deft knowledge, drawing him to the brink and easing him back again, gasping with the intensity of it all. He covered Laughing Wolf's body with his own and tortured him with light, teasing kisses and fierce little nips. "Do you want me? I can make you want me. I can make you need me."

"I do need you." Laughing Wolf arched his back and rocked his hips up so their cocks rubbed deliciously, one against the other. "Our souls are joined. Do you not know that?"

"I know it." Jim kissed him one more time, sucking on his throat so there would be a mark to show for it tomorrow. "Let me show you how much I need you." He moved away, groaning, and knelt beside Laughing Wolf, leaning forward on his hands, his backside raised to the night air. "This is how I want you to take me."

"Jim..." With a swift twist and wriggle, Laughing Wolf was kneeling at his lover's side. He ran his hand lightly down Jim's back, feeling the warmth of his skin and the hard muscle beneath, and, gods, Jim was like some magnificent animal, like the cat that had appeared as his animal spirit.

He moved behind Jim, stroking the pale buttocks with one hand, sliding the other between the parted thighs to caress Jim's cock. It felt full and heavy with need, an answer to his own that ached and throbbed, demanding to be satisfied.

"Open me with your fingers." Jim's voice was hoarse with strain. "Just a little. It's been a while."

Laughing Wolf did so, not entirely unaccustomed to this; but his hands trembled when Jim rocked back onto his fingers making hungry, needy sounds. He squeezed his cock urgently, forcing back the climax that would have denied them both the relief they longed for.

"Now, Chief. I need you _now_!" Jim leaned forward, away from Laughing Wolf's fingers, and he hastily grasped his cock and pressed it against Jim's opening. When Jim rocked back his cock slid halfway in, so easily that Laughing Wolf swayed with light-headed relief. He held Jim's hips between his hands and thrust deep.

Jim's body tightened around his cock, demanding that Laughing Wolf thrust harder, deeper, faster. He flung back his head and threw every last scrap of strength into the driving rhythm of his hips while Jim howled and bucked against him. This was not submission, this was possession, pure and simple.

Laughing Wolf groaned aloud, recognising at last that to be Jim's Guide would require his mind, his body, and his soul. He would have to give up every part of himself, but in return, he would gain Jim, all of him, for as long as they remained in this life, and beyond.

He looked down at Jim's heaving back and slid his hands from the trim waist up to wide shoulders, then bent over his lover, wrapping his arms around Jim's chest. "I _will_ submit to you, my brother," he whispered against skin slippery with sweat. "I swear it on my life."

Whether Jim heard it or not, the vow was made, and Laughing Wolf felt the change inside himself. He smiled and kissed the middle of Jim's back, drawing his hands down over the broad chest, down to where Jim's cock leapt and danced in time to his thrusts. He caught the heavy shaft in his hands, stroking roughly, his whole body thrilling to the sound of Jim's helpless groans. He could feel the climax building in the way Jim's body held him so tightly, and in his own faltering control. With one last, effortful thrust, he poured his seed into his Guardian's body, and as he did so, Jim cried out, releasing a gush of blood hot juices into the hands that cradled him.

In that moment it seemed as though they hung suspended beyond the physical world, and Laughing Wolf could see again the jungle of his vision. The cat and the wolf ran, side by side and between them was stretched a complex weave of shimmering filament, binding them inextricably together.

Then he was back in the chill air of the valley, his body following Jim's down as his lover collapsed into a panting heap. He carefully withdrew and rolled onto his side, facing Jim, no less breathless himself. Jim's eyes opened a fraction and he grinned smugly, and reached out to tuck a strand of Laughing Wolf's hair behind his ear.

"You see? It'll be all right." And Jim pulled the loose mound of skins over and around them against the night air.

And Laughing Wolf thought that he was probably right.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> As far as i've been able to figure out, although Europeans occasionally visited the Pacific Northwest, mostly by sea, the earliest settlers arrived in 1810. so this story takes place several years before that.


End file.
